My heros discuss Failure
From this Krista Tippet interview with Andrew Zolli: A Shift to Humility: Andrew Zolli on Resilience and Expanding the Edge of Change | On Being.
To Alan Weiss (of Million Dollar Consultant fame) as he presents the analytical side of this idea.
"If you're not failing, then you're not trying!"
I am reminded that failure is crucial to any system, and can be experienced with a kind of openness. Recently, Brene Brown and Andrew Zolli have both waxed eloquently about the idea of "failing gracefully."
Today I spoke on the phone with a client whose startup is courting bankruptcy and acquisition at precisely the same moment. Millions of dollars are on the line. His description of failure (I had to ask) came midway through the conversation. Earlier he had been discussing tactics for how to court a potential acquisition. Neither time did he falter, but his voice sounded softer when discussing failure. Resignation mixed with fear.
There's something about failure that unifies us where success separates. Can we fuse failure with success in the future?